Police say woman's death under Ormond bridge possible suicide

Monday

Feb 11, 2013 at 5:32 PMFeb 11, 2013 at 9:12 PM

Police are calling it a possible suicide, but family and friends are not convinced that Christie Hulette took her own life.

LYDA LONGASTAFF WRITER

Police are calling it a possible suicide, but the family and friends of a 37-year-old woman found face down on the pier under the Granada Bridge are not convinced that Christie Hulette took her own life. "She was afraid of heights — she would never have gone up on the bridge," said Mary Johnson, sister of Christie Hulette. Hulette, a petite brunette who worked at Walmart, adored her nieces and nephews and wore her heart on her sleeve. She was found before sunup Sunday morning by two women on the wooden pier underneath the eastbound lanes of the bridge. Her purse, her Walmart identification card and a large kitchen knife were found next to Hulette on the pier. Investigators said she had "extreme trauma" to her arms and legs, but have not said anything else regarding her injuries. An autopsy is scheduled for Tuesday morning, said Volusia County spokesman Dave Byron. According to police and her older sister, Hulette left Walmart about 1 a.m. and her body was found just over four hours later by the early morning joggers, police said. Because Hulette did not have a car though, both Johnson and friend Danielle Danilek are puzzled over how she ended up at the Granada Bridge five miles away. The two women said Hulette — a smoker — was quite thin, but not in any shape to walk that many miles. Johnson said Hulette, who joined Walmart in 2010, worked the 10 p.m. to 7 a.m. shift on Saturday and Sunday. At about 1 a.m., she checked out for a meal break and it's believed she walked across Granada to a gas station that also has a convenience store. In a Facebook post, a friend of Hulette's who also works the overnight shift at Walmart, wrote that she wished she had accompanied the 5-foot-tall, 80 pound woman to "the corner store" when Hulette took her break. On that same Facebook post, Lairie Cuellar also wrote about a "crazy guy that was talking to himself," implying that someone peculiar was nearby when Hulette went to the store across the street from Walmart. However, family and friends also knew that Hulette was still grieving the November death of an ex-boyfriend whom she had dated for 10 years. Johnson said Hulette and the man — Scott — had a long, but sometimes rocky relationship. "She always wanted to get back with Scott, but it never happened," Johnson said. She said the last time she spoke to Hulette was on Jan. 5. Hulette was trying to get some money together to buy one of Johnson's grandchildren a birthday present. Johnson said her sibling — the youngest of three sisters — was a childlike person who would cry over certain commercials and would believe anything people told her. She loved animals and would take in strays and feed them. Her Facebook page is filled with pictures of her two nieces and her nephew, ages 11, 8 and 5. Danilek, the mother of the three children, said Hulette "would not have left her nieces and nephew." On Monday, Hulette's Facebook page was also replete with posts from friends and relatives who could not believe she had died. At the end of her post, Cuellar wrote, "Be in peace with Scott." Ormond Beach investigators are asking anyone who may have seen Hulette at the Granada Bridge on Sunday morning before 5:30 a.m. to call 386-677-0731 or Crime Stoppers, 888-277-TIPS (8477).